Aaron Akins

WHEN DO WE LOVE

the new single featuring walter and wallace scott
of the legendary soul group the whispers.

OUT NOW!

Aaron’s latest single “When Do We Love” featuring Walter and Wallace Scott of the legendary soul group The Whispers is available for streaming and download on all music platforms.

The song is the title track from his forthcoming EP which is scheduled to be released in 2024.

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biography

Aaron Akins is a singer and songwriter hailing from Chicago. He has been a twice featured performer at the annual Music Benefit Concert and Awards galas of the American Society of Young Musicians and was selected by Broadwayworld.Com as The best Cabaret/Concert Artist male in Los Angeles. 

He has worked throughout his career with many of Hollywood’s finest performers, writers, and producers, including Stan Lathan (director/producer of The Steve Harvey Show, etc.) and Darryl Jones, who now plays for the Rolling Stones. Aaron was also awarded the Golden Star Halo Award for his singing and composing abilities.

Aaron was told he could sing at age nine and began his career singing at church, soon becoming the choir’s staple soloist and bringing church members near and far to hear him and his interpretations of traditional Gospel Music.

Aaron’s musical ambitions led him to Southern Illinois University, where he completed an undergraduate studies in Music Business. During his time at the university, he made an impressive performance in basketball, though his true passion was for music — leading him to move hundreds of miles to Los Angeles.

There, he attempted to make his mark in the music industry, landing roles in a number of music videos, television specials, and movies such as Black Butterfly, which is available on Netflix, and Split Decisions with Gene Hackman.

Devotion to music won out in the long run though and Aaron began performing in nightclubs and other venues, where he sang his Into the Cole show — a tribute performance to one of Aaron’s great musical inspirations, Nat King Cole.

The show later became his first album. His performance was reviewed by BWW reporter Don Grigware and described as “striking and charismatic, Akins doesn’t copy but seems to have an uncanny ability to produce the same high-pitched vocal stylings of Nat King Cole.”

He was also billed as “a performer who really cares about his audience” and makes his live performances fun and friendly with humorous anecdotes of his experiences in and around the LA musical scene between musical numbers.

Henry Nemo, renowned songwriter best known for works sung by Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Nat King Cole and other greats, solicited Aaron to record some of his original recordings.

The album, titled Mr. Nostalgia & Friends, was released on Nemo’s independent label Omen Records and contains tracks that had never before been released.

Aaron also formed NAKICO records, producing his own contemporary version of Nat King Cole’s hit ‘Mona Lisa’, which was immediately picked up by radio stations and so well received that it was placed in multi-category high rotation.

While he does sound amazingly similar to Nat King Cole and have an amazing flare for jazz, Aaron’s own style is often described as an innovative mix; jazz, Urban, hip-hop, and R&B combined. One of his favorite compositions is ‘God Made Women Beautiful’, which carries an immensely positive message to his listeners and was considered for a Grammy.

Christmas 1999, Aaron was honored to perform the Vatican for the Pope, along with such artists as Siedah Garrett and Darryl Phinnessee. He said it remains one of the most memorable experiences of his life.

His music can purchased and found online through Spotify and Pandora, as well as YouTube.

MUSIC

“LOVE IS ALL AROUND” (ALBUM)

SINGLES

Click the covers to listen, download and stream…

“INTO THE COLE”

Bearing the same name as his debut album, Into the Cole is perhaps one of Aaron Akins’ most iconic performances, where he charismatically performs some of Nat King Cole’s most cherished works.

It’s been described as “a musical journey through some of Nat King Cole’s Greatest Hits” and “a unique and expertly crafted tribute, applauded by critics as well as the late Carole Cole”.

Broadwayworld.com nominee, Aaron Akins, has always felt a strong connection to Cole’s work, recognizing the crooner as one of the greatest influences for his own songs, such as “I Haven’t Tried You”, which also appears in the set. Of Cole, he says: “Nat King Cole simply had a unique delivery and style. There is just no one like him. To me, he is the best!”

According to fans and critics alike, Aaron has effortlessly captured a near-identical delivery to Cole, saying: “I discovered I had a sound like Nat King Cole while participating in a singers’ workshop in Los Angeles. I decided to do a solo performance of Cole’s music because it’s a natural part of my style.”

“He doesn’t force it one single bit,” observed BWW Review reporter, Don Grigware. “It appears to flow out of him naturally; if you close your eyes, the similarity between the two men is remarkable.”

The 70-minute performance is backed by a three-instrument arrangement with musical director Chris Glik on piano, Bobby Barron on drums, and Ravi Knypstra on bass. It features such songs as “Mona Lisa”, “I Love You For Sentimental Reasons”, “Nature Boy”, and “The Christmas Song”, the last of which was written by Mel Torme specifically for Cole’s unique vocal delivery and is met with almost identical perfection by Akins.

One thing that sets Akins’ performance apart from that of other musicians is the warmth he emanates onstage, relating humorous anecdotes of the LA music scene between songs and earning a funnier-than-most-comedians billing. Grigware described him as “a performer who cares about his audience” with a “charismatic, easy style that just pours forth, making the experience one you won’t soon forget. Like Cole himself, Aaron Akins is unforgettable!”

“GOD MADE WOMEN BEAUTIFUL”

In the quest to bring more positivity to the music front, Aaron feels he was inspired by God to write his song, ‘God Made Women Beautiful’, which Aaron himself acknowledges as probably his most important musical contribution — not only the song, but the movement it inspired. “There are so many negative images and thoughts and words in music today, especially some Rap, that it is absolutely imperative that there be some positive images and thoughts and words in music today,” said Aaron.

‘God Made Women Beautiful’ is an attempt to remind women about the truth of who they are… it has a message to all women, not just some women. Every woman on the planet, I am trying to remind them that they can’t be anything but beautiful. Because anything other than beauty is just an illusion, it is not real, it’s just an idea.”

The song, ‘God Made Women Beautiful’ has been considered for a Grammy Award, and is one of Aaron’s favorite personal compositions. “It’s just such a meaningful song to me,” he said.

God Made Women Beautiful is a movement to bring together strong women from across the globe, educate, support, and empower them to achieve their full beauty and potential… It is an effort to spread the message of pride, accomplishment and positive self-esteem; things desperately needed in these times, when all emphasis seemed placed on physical appearance, material possessions, and social status. God Made Women —All Women— Beautiful. And their inner qualities should be the primary measure of beauty.

ACTING

Aaron is an accomplished and versatile actor who has played parts in music videos, television, and even movies. Capturing attention with his stage performance, he wins his audience with a charismatic style all his own.

He played Herbie Hancock in the hit Netflix series “I Think You Should Leave”, played alongside Gene Hackman in the feature film “Split Decisions”, and starred in his own production of “Into the Cole”, a tribute to the legendary crooner Nat King Cole. It’s been described as “a musical journey through some of Nat King Cole’s Greatest Hits” and “a unique and expertly crafted tribute, applauded by critics as well as the late Carole Cole”.

The 70-minute performance is backed by a three-instrument arrangement with musical director Chris Glik on piano, Bobby Barron on drums, and Ravi Knypstra on bass. It features such songs as “Mona Lisa”, “I Love You For Sentimental Reasons”, “Nature Boy”, and “The Christmas Song”, the last of which was written by Mel Torme specifically for Cole’s unique vocal delivery and is met with almost identical perfection by Akins.

 FEATURES

Aaron’s song “I Just Wanna Luv U” can be heard in the Antonio Banderas film “Black Butterfly”

Black Butterfly is French thriller remake directed by Brian Goodman about a reclusive author named Paul, played by Antonia Banderas, who is an alcoholic and is suffering from writer’s block, struggling to sell his next screenplay.

His realtor, Laura, played by Piper Perabo, is helping him sell his house due to his financial difficulties. He picks up a hitchhiker who ends up being an ex-convict with a tattoo of a black butterfly.

Murder and mystery ensue through plot spirals and turns, leaving Paul’s writer’s block the final twist.

Naturally, for Akins to have his song featured in the Black Butterfly movie was a rare opportunity in which such a stellar performer is thrilled to have in his list of accomplishments. In, “I Just Wanna Luv U”, Akins pours his heart into the song with positivity and good vibes, that can be felt in the heartwarming recording that brings a smile to anyone’s face.

VIDEOS

MUSIC, FILM AND MORE!

GALLERY

Click the pics to enlarge…